This story, by Leo Monahan, first appeared in the March 19, 1966, issue of The Sporting News under the headline “Bobby Hull: The Golden Jet of Hockey.” It ran as the Chicago icon, 27, was enjoying arguably his best season in his ninth of 15 with the Blackhawks. Later that year Hull would win the Hart and Ross trophies after leading the NHL in goals, points and shots.
CHICAGO — There is something about the guy that is, well, electric. It's not just the way he skates with long, strong, flowing strides. It's not just his good looks, although his handsome face and bright blond hair do catch the eye. There is another quality about Bobby Hull, a man who can shoot a puck at a trembling goaltender at speeds up to 120 miles an hour. What is it? A magnetism, perhaps, that few professional athletes possess these stereotyped days. He has color, class, size, strength, speed, all the qualities so treasured in the Jet Age. Perhaps that's why the nickname hung on the Chicago Black Hawk forward is so apt — hockey’s Golden Jet.
Hull, without question, is the No. 1 attraction in major league hockey. National Hockey League fans are notorious for their partisanship. It's hiss the villain and cheer the hero. You'd expect Hull to be a paragon to Chicago fans and a pet peeve in the rival rinks. It doesn't work out that way. Hull is almost as popular on the road as he is at home. Fans pay to see him. They cheer him. Few hockey players in history can make that statement.
Robert Marvin Hull, just 27 and already a veteran of nine NHL seasons, could quit this very moment and be a candidate for the Hall of Fame. He has gained the first All-Star team four times and the second-team once. He has won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer. He was voted the Hart Trophy as the league's Most Valuable Player. His gentlemanly play gained him the Lady Byng Trophy last season. He already has scored more than 300 regular-season goals and has many more good seasons to go.
Matched Goals Mark
In his fifth NHL campaign, he tied the record for goals — 50 — scored in a regular season. It was held jointly by former Montrealers Maurice (Rocket) Richard and Bernie (Boom Boom) Geoffrion. Now he has equalled that mark and by season's end he may have amassed a one-year total that never will be eclipsed.
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Crooner Bing Crosby perhaps summed it up best for all after watching Hull play in Toronto recentiy.
"Hockey," said Bing,"is really something.
"But that Hull! Man, he's something else, isn't he?"
That he is. And, happily, fame, fortune and fandom have not changed him a bit. He's still the affable, agreeable, cooperative guy he was when, at 18, he broke into the NHL in 1957.
Hull never sidesteps an autograph seeker or an interviewer. He'll sign dozens of autographs after a game, even with teammates imploring him to hurry to catch a plane. His mail exceeds 50 letters a day at times.
"Most of them ask for an autographed picture. My wife, Joanne, helps me with it. We answer every one," said Bobby.
"Don't you get tired of people trying to interview you, Bobby?"
"No," he replied. "I feel if anyone is anxious enough to do a story on me, I should cooperate. Sure, I've been asked plenty of silly questions. What of it? If I were interviewing you about your job, I'd probably ask a lot of silly questions myself.”
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Hull, however, would far rather talk about his rapidly increasing herd of polled Hereford cattle. They are more than a hobby and a business to him. They're an obsession. Hull, in fact, carries a picture of a Hereford bull in his wallet.
"If you really want to get Bobby talking, ask him about the Herefords," says Lou Angotti, a teammate who came to the Hawks in a deal with New York this season.
Angotti was new to his Chicago teammates when they were riding a bus to the airport. He didn't know Hull well.
"Hey, Lou," said Bobby, pulling out his wallet and fishing out the picture, "did you ever see such a beautiful bull?"
He's Farmer at Heart
Hull and his younger brother, Dennis, are partners in the cattle business. They have one herd of 100 at Point Anne, Ont., and others are scattered over five nearby farms.
"I just bought two more farms,” explained Bobby. "That gives me six altogether, all in Picton. We'll have 300 head by spring. I grow all my own feed."
One of Hull's favorite possessions is a prize-winning yearling bull with the fancy name of Hardean Woodrow Masterpiece — Woody for short.
Yes, Hull is still a farmer at heart. He was born at Point Anne on January 3, 1939. He is one of 11 children — seven daughters, four sons — born to Robert Hull, Sr., a fair hockey player himself who played junior, intermediate and senior hockey in Point Anne.
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Young Bobby learned to skate on frozen ponds near the Bay of Quinte. He was on skates at the age of three.
"This kid," said Robert Hull, Sr., "looked like a hockey player the first time he stepped on the ice. When he was ten, he was playing against kids 14 and older. He made them look like kids even then.
Discovered by Wilson
"Bobby always was rugged, even against the older, bigger boys."
Bob Wilson, then Eastern Canada scout for Chicago, spotted Hull among a bunch of kids playing on a frozen pond in Belleville, Ont. He was 13. Hull was introduced to Junior B hockey in Hespeler, Ont. Here he earned "$5 a week and my schooling." The following season, he helped a Junior B team in Woodstock, Ont., win the Junior Ontario Hockey Association title. The next step up the ladder was the Junior A team at St. Catharines, Ont. Hull picked up 71 points in 49 games and won recognition as the most talented Junior A hockey player.
All this time, Hull was earning a modest salary — the Junior A OHA maximum is $60 a week — and attending high school.
"This is one of my few regrets — not graduating from high school," said Bobby. "I was only 18 when I came to the Hawks. I should have enrolled in a school here but, heck, when a kid's just 18 and trying to play in the NHL, it's too tough."
Hull has three sons: Bobby, Jr., 5; Blake, 4, and Brett, 1 1/2. He wants them to get the education he missed.
"I'd like them to get a university education," said Bobby.
Hull has an amazing physique — bulging biceps, a broad back and huge chest, a narrow waist and thick, muscular thighs.
Hitting a Telegraph Pole
"The guy," said one rival NHL defenseman, "doesn't know his own strength. It's almost impossible to ride him off the puck. He can hold you off with one arm. It's like running into a telegraph pole.”
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Hull's powerful body has enabled him to avoid many serious injuries in a most hazardous sport. He lost his front teeth as a youngster — an occupational hazard with hockey players — and has been carved for more than 200 stitches. His most serious problem is with his knees. He had trouble with them as a teenager and they have kicked up at times.
Last season, for instance, Hull was freewheeling toward 50-plus goals when he was checked hard by rugged Toronto defenseman Bobby Baun. He hurt his knee and was sidelined. When he returned, another jolting check damaged the other knee. A leg injury this campaign foiled his bid to match Richard's record of scoring his 50 goals in 50 games.
Hockey players have a Spartan attitude, so it's not unusual for Hull to play with ailments that would sideline mere mortals. A few years ago, he sustained a shoulder separation in the next-to-last game of the regular season. He missed the first playoff game, but then had the shoulder frozen so he could play. Later in that same series, Hull's nose was badly broken and both his eyes were blackened when he was struck by an errant stick. He had to breathe through his mouth and had vision out of only one eye, but he played. He still scored eight goals in the playoff series.
Teammates recall the time a few seasons back when Hull had a stick rammed into his mouth. A splinter the size of a cigaret butt wedged in his teeth.
"I'll have to take out the wood and then stitch you up." a doctor told Bobby.
"Get out the wood, doc, but leave the stitching until later. There's not much time left in the game,” replied Hull through his bloody mouth,
And then, just like in the movies, Robert Marvin Hull returned to the ice and scored the winning goal.
Bobby Hull may not be Superman, but he's probably the closest thing to it the NHL ever has seen.